Commentary Category
The Mindful PhD: After the Honeymoon
Jan. 29, 2014—by Nancy Chick, CFT Assistant Director My class is still in the “honeymoon phase,” those carefree weeks in the beginning of the semester when students and instructor alike enjoy each other’s company and insights, before any major papers or exams complicate the dynamic. Smaller, low-stakes assessments have given me a chance to provide early feedback and...
The Mindful PhD: Doodling & Knitting
Jan. 22, 2014—by Nancy Chick, CFT Assistant Director Last week, I had a great conversation about class participation with SoTL Scholar Hasina Mohyuddin and my Graduate-Teaching-Fellow partner in teaching the SoTL Scholars Program Andrew Greer (both PhD candidates in the Department of Human & Organizational Development). I also serendipitously asked my students to work together to create...
The Mindful PhD: Enduring Effects
Jan. 15, 2014—by Nancy Chick, CFT Assistant Director I recently announced on Facebook that I take requests. My friend and former colleague Marnie Bullock Dresser asked the following question: “I can already tell there are fewer monkeys when I’m in serious monkey mind mode. I can tell my brain is different; I’m just wanting to trust that...
Recommended Reading: Cheating Lessons by James Lang
Jan. 13, 2014—by Derek Bruff, CFT Director. Cross-posted from Derek’s blog, Agile Learning. Last summer, I was honored to be asked to read and review James Lang’s excellent new book, Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty (Harvard University Press, 2013). James Lang is an associate professor of English and the director of the Center for Teaching Excellence...
The Mindful PhD: Support for Stressed Students
Jan. 8, 2014—by Nancy Chick, CFT Assistant Director The new semester started yesterday here at Vanderbilt. My students were bright-eyed and enthusiastic, though I know they were experiencing those first-day uncertainties about their new classes, professors, and classmates. Soon enough, these early jitters will turn to a more significant set of stresses as assignments come due, exams...
What’s In Your Syllabus?
Jan. 7, 2014—by Nancy Chick, CFT Assistant Director I just posted my syllabus on YES (Your Enrollment Services, where students register online) as part of Vanderbilt’s effort to help students make informed choices about their courses, and I had a moment of anxiety. Like Anne Bradstreet in “The Author to Her Book,” despite my worries that it’s...
A (New) Plan for Lesson Planning
Jan. 6, 2014—by Nancy Chick, CFT Assistant Director I’ve been teaching my own courses since 1993, and I still experiment with how to manage my notes, preparations, To Do lists, readings, and lesson plans–not because I’m adventurous but because I’m dissatisfied. A Goldilocks of office and organizational supplies, I’ve rejected previous attempts as “too big,” “too messy,”...
Shelfies: The Bibliophile’s Selfie
Dec. 23, 2013—by Nancy Chick, CFT Assistant Director Oxford Dictionaries recently selected “selfie” as 2013’s word of the year, acknowledging the ubiquitous self-portraits snapped, then filtered, tinted, or boosted with a smartphone app, and then shared on social media. I look forward to my spring WGS 200: Women in Popular Culture class for a discussion of these...
Flexible Classrooms: Highlights from #Spaces4Learning
Dec. 19, 2013—by Derek Bruff, CFT Director. Cross-posted from Derek’s blog, Agile Learning. Last week Vanderbilt University hosted a group of architects and architecture faculty from the University of Melbourne for a series of presentations and conversations on the design of learning spaces. Melbourne is one of our “sister” schools, and faculty from its School of Architecture...
The Mindful PhD: 2013 Top 10
Dec. 19, 2013—by Nancy Chick, CFT Assistant Director I just realized this will be my last entry for 2013. As my social media feeds fill up with Top 10 Lists, I thought I’d pause at the end of the year and offer my own. Since my blog is still fairly new (this is just my 18th post),...